Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Rundown Slam: WWE Payback 2016

The post-WrestleMania was supposedly to be slated as its revenge tour; thus, setting the pay-per-view event Payback for such an insane conclusion.

But lest we forgot, we are entering the new era, where the authority had been admonished by the rise of the Roman empire, and a new authoritarian (though good guy) has taken over at the expense of earning the respect of his father. (Still, throwing the damn angle of their feud away.)

And just when you thought Shane McMahon has been on the roll, his sister Stephanie gets back on him at Stamford and sent a message from his father Vincent Kennedy.

But before that, let's have a rundown of WWE's annual edition of Payback that was staged once again at Rosemont, Illinois.

The main program kicked off with the tournament final for the tag team #1 contender slot between The Vaudevillains and Enzo and Cass. It was supposed to put both tag teams over in their first PPV showing as competitors – and to put the duo of Simon Goth and Aiden English to become the New Day's threat to the golds, but a both has sent this outcome to a “no contest.” Thus, an abrupt and premature ending to a very unfortunate sequence where everyone checked Enzo Amore's situation.

Verdict: 6

While he may have been tested negative to all test, it will take some time for Enzo to get back due to that concussion. See, folks? Wrestling may be scripted but taking the bump is never a joke.

Meantime, the Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn match was nothing but insanity. This should be the match of the year with these two going against each other. Heck, they could even be tagged as the Slammy Award for Rivalry of the Year.

Verdict: 9.5

With the victory and a post-match shenanigan plus an instant commentary job at the next match, Owens has clearly established himself as the top heel of this current storyline. His efforts should elevate him to become a main event-calibrated player for months to come.

And just when we thought KO-Zayn thing was done for the night, think again. The Intercontinental Championship match was scheduled underway, and I love how Cesaro eventually get back into the mold he once lost after making Miz tap out – sans the official decision due to interference between the two rivals.

Miz wins via pinfall off a roll-up, thus signifying this IC title picture between Miz and Cesaro wasn't done yet. And true enough, we could have a fatal-four way for that coveted white-and-gold belt come Extreme Rules!

Verdict: 9

Dean Ambrose defeated Chris Jericho on what has been the latter's last match before a temporary bye-bye to the E. I'll say Ambrose badly need that win after a lackluster show-up with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. However, this match was a buster either.

Verdict: 7

Charlotte has defeated Natalya in a screwjob-like finish, and with a sharpshooter. And just when we thought there will be switching hands of the title, I'm quite sure this has made to help Charlotte get better, though her progression as a heel seemed a bit stagnant.

But the shenanigans was the real payback moment of them all – seeing Natalya and her uncle Bret Hart put on a sharpshooter on Charlotte and her father Ric Flair. All that despite being the crook-ish of referee Charles Robinson.

Expect these two to clash anew at Extreme Rules.

Verdict: 8.9

Vince has said both Stephanie and Shane will control Monday Night Raw for good. Yes, both the McMahon siblings. While some people may have seen this as a new main tale of sibling rivalry, this has completely threw the story of Shane vs. Vince/Shane vs. Undertaker away.

Perhaps because of that suicide dive from the top of the cell that moved Vinny Mac? That he was stunned and realized Shane was not just a bitch, but instead his son? Talk about twisting kayfabe. For sure, Stephanie was a better actress of all the McMahons right now; she could be an angelic good woman the same way as being a bitchy, despicable heel.

Though I doubt this coexistence will run long very, very soon.

Verdict: 3

The main event has made both wrestlers look strong, especially with evening the odds with Luke and Gallows and the Usos. While AJ shown himself why he's ore than just a word “threat” to Roman Reigns, it proved Reigns on being the badass guy right now. All that despite not fully turning heel (I assume he's a tweener), and AJ trying to restore that babyface role through the suddenly additional stipulations made both by the McMahon siblings.

Verdict: 9.3

So far, even if majority of the winners were heels, I think Payback wasn't really bad a start at all for establishing new era. If there will be negative remarks about this event, it's the fact that the “decision” segment turned out to be a cop-out, as well as the tournament ended in an unfortunate manner, and the stage sets for the PPV events did not give justice for the proposing tale itself. When was the last time we have seen a non-WrestleMania spectacular set-up? During Payback 2014?

But the pyros weren't shown at the start of the event either. That counts a lot for being bad, too.

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